Protective Helmet With Hood

Abstract

A helmet has an integral hood which fits over the neck, and part of the shoulders of a person wearing the helmet. A transparent, double-walled face shield is pivotally attached to the hood to protect the face of the wearer of the helmet.

Parent Case Text

This is a continuation-in-part of my application, Ser. No. 23,209 filed Mar. 27, 1970 and titled PROTECTIVE HOOD FOR CRASH HELMETS.

Description

My invention relates to protective helmets with attached hoods, or the like, and more particularly to a device that affords neck and face protection for the wearer of a helmet.

A conventional helmet protects the wearer against skull fracture or brain injury. Typically, these helmets are worn by motorcyclists, drivers of snowmobiles, construction workers, farmers, fishermen, children or anyone who has to be exposed to the wind or extreme cold. However, the usual construction of the more standard types of helmets do not provide any protection from cold air entering them. This cold air is a real hazard and inconvenience to the person wearing the helmet.

Accordingly, a prime object of my invention is to provide a hood device that may be easily attached to the entire helmet, for sealing it around the neck and shoulders of the wearer. In particular, an object is to provide a protective head covering for cold weather usage.

An object of my invention is to provide a device that is easily attached to a helmet for the convenience of the user.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described, that is equipped with a double-walled transparent face shield, giving visibility for the user. Here, an object is to provide a face shield which may be attached to cover the face, and which pivots away from over the face of the user.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment incorporating an entire hood device equipped with a transparent shield;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the hood device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the hood device, as worn over a conventional crash-helmet shown in phantom;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a suggested means of attaching the transparent shield onto the hood device;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention including a helmet with a neck piece attached thereto;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a ladies' helmet made in the second embodiment style;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the neck piece for the second embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the face piece of the face shield for the second embodiment.

The hood 10 may be constructed of any soft pliable material, such as knitted fabric, leather, or plastic. The neck section 12 and the shoulder section 13 are provided with either one, or a pair of hookless fasteners, as shown at 14. Thus, the hood 10 is applied onto and over the helmet 11 so that it follows the shape, form and contour of the helmet 11, when so applied. Thereafter, the fastener 14 is closed.

A transparent shield 15 is applied to the open front of the hood 10. A ridge 16 is on the outer edge of the shield 15. A bead 17, of the same shape and contour as the ridge 16, is disposed on the inside (see FIG. 4) of the hood 10. Extending through mating apertures in the ridge 16 and the bead 17 are a plurality of attaching members 18 for clamping the shield 15 in a fixed position onto the hood 10. Obviously, the shield 15, may be attached to the hood 10, in any convenient and efficient manner, depending primarily on the type of material used in the construction of the hood 10.

The shield 15 is preferably made with a double-wall construction to give a thermal insulation and thereby prevent fogging of the shield. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the two walls W1 and W2 of shield 15 are joined together at the edge 16. Also, beyond the edge, these walls are spaced apart by a small distance to provide a dead air space S. The manner of joining and supporting these two walls is not too important; however, I prefer to make them as a single unit so that the dead air space S may be partially evacuated.

The form and contour of the shield 15 may vary. If desired, a plurality of apertures 19 may pierce a solid space through both walls to provide for air circulation or ventilation without allowing air to enter the dead air space S. A mouthpiece 20 may be hingedly or slidably applied to the shield 15 for the convenience of the user. Again, the attachment is made at a point where the walls are a solid unit.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown as a man's helmet in FIG. 5 and a ladies' helmet in FIG. 7. The principal parts of the helmet are a hard hat 30, having a soft sponge or padded lining 31. The front of the hard hat has a small visor 32 superimposed over and projecting outwardly beyond the facial area. Any suitable form of hat may be used, such as those worn by baseball players, jockeys, motorcycle riders, or the like.

The back of the hard hat is cut upwardly at 33 to avoid contact with the wearer's spine at the base of the skull in case the head is snapped back in an accident. The skirt of the hard hat has a plurality of peripherally located snap fasteners or similar devices 35, which provide means for removably attaching the neck piece 36.

The neck piece 36 is contoured to be attached to the hard hat and to fit under the chin and around the wearer's neck. Again, this piece could be leather, knit, plastic or other suitable material. In one form, the neck piece is lined with a dense foam. A zipper, "Velcro" hook and loop fastener, or other suitable device 40 allows the neck piece to open wide enough to fit over the user's head while the hard hat is being put on or removed. When the fastener 40 is closed, the neck piece is a form-fitting garment.

The upper edge or perimeter of the neck piece 36 includes a plurality of snaps or similar devices 41, which mate with the fasteners 35 on the hard hat 30. Also, a rigid visor support 42 is shaped to follow the chin line of the user, and to project upwardly on either side in the general direction of the wearer's ears. A suitable pivot point 43, 44 is formed on either end of the upturned part. The visor support 42 (FIG. 6) may be made with an L-shaped cross-section of any suitable hard material, such as metal or the hard plastic used to make the hard hat. A layer of weather stripping 46, such as sponge rubber is cemented inside the L-shaped cross-section to provide a weather tight shield at the bottom of the visor.

The face shield 48 (FIG. 9) is contoured to curve around the human face, to butt up against the visor 32 on the top, and to fit onto the ledge of the L-shaped bracket 42 on the bottom. The upper edge 49 of the face shield is covered with a soft weather stripping material to seal the face piece 48 against the visor 32.

The lower two corners of the face piece has two pivot points 50, 51 which fit over and cooperate with the pivot points 43, 44 on the visor support. Thus, the visor 48 may be pivoted up in front of the face or down under the chin of the user. When it swings down, the wearer's face is exposed so that he may eat, for example. When the visor swings up, the pivot points are located so that the hood clears the support 42 and then the bottom edge pulls in tightly against weather stripping 46 while the weather stripping 49 is squeezed against the visor. The upper points 52, 53 snap onto the hard hat 30 to hold the visor 48 in place.

The ends of the face piece 55 are not weather stripped, thus providing ventilation to preclude fogging. The visor is also double thickness, as seen at 57, 58 to provide a dead air space 59 for insulation purposes.

The ladies' hat has a scarf which fits around the top of the hat and under the chin. Any suitable attachment means may be used to attach the scarf, while also allowing it to be removed for cleaning. The scarf may also be integral with the neck piece 36.

The hat and shield is thus designed to be worn on the head in cold weather, to protect the face from frostbite and the like. The hard hat is made of plastic or fiber glass, or like material, and it has a styrofoam liner that is removable. The styrofoam liner provides an insulation between the temperature outside and the head of the wearer. The liner is also made in different sizes to fit different size heads. The face shield is made of a plastic-like material with a double-wall construction to give a dead air space to prevent steam or mist to form. The collar or neck piece may be made of different type materials and in different colors.

The neck piece or collar snaps onto the inside of the hat to enable the wearer to remove it if it becomes too warm. The collar may also have a snap on strap, which goes from one side of the hat around the shield to the other side of the hat. This strap helps hold the shield in place if offensive wind pressure is present.

The primary purpose of my invention is to provide a protection against the wind and weather, as when the device is used by the operator of a snowmobile, a hunter, fisherman, or the like. This type of protection may also be provided in connection with any conventional crash helmet. Moreover, the construction of the hood constituting my invention is such that it may be applied to various types of hats, for the additional protection for which it is intended.

The drawings and written description cover a specific construction, but I am fully aware of the fact that many changes may be made without affecting the operativeness of the device, and I reserve the rights to make such changes as I may deem necessary without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the claims.

Claims

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

1. A protective headdress comprising a first part in the form of a hard hat with a visor, a second part removably attached to the first part for covering at least the neck of a person wearing the hard hat, said second part having a shape and contour following the chin and neck line of the wearer,

means comprising a transparent shield covering the general face area of a person wearing said hard hat and fitting against the visor, and

pivot means for enabling said shield to fit against the visor and in front of the face or swing down under the chin of the wearer.

2. The headdress of claim 1 wherein said shield has a double-walled construction for giving a thermal insulation.

3. The headdress of claim 2 wherein said double-walled structure has a dead air space there between.

4. The headdress of claim 3 wherein said dead air space is at least partly evacuated.

5. The headdress of claim 4 and weather stripping means for sealing said face shield against said visor and said second part.

6. The headdress of claim 5 and a non-sealed space between the face shield and the hard hat to provide for air circulation behind said shield.

7. The headdress of claim 1 and a scarf surrounding said first and second parts by fitting over the top of said hard hat.

8. The headdress of claim 1 and a soft sponge-like liner in said hard hat, said liner being shaped to fit the head size of the wearer.

9. The headdress of claim 1 wherein said hard hat is a crash helmet.